'The fire was just raging'

"I got out of bed about 1 o'clock [this morning] to this glow in the sky … I thought it was much later, but it wasn't the sun coming up — it was bright red and flames leaping into the air," she said.

"My husband Noel said 'don't worry about anything — just put on some clothes and we'll get outside' — but it came up behind our garage and that was quite close.

"The sky was spectacular, if you can say such a thing."

Ms Gibson said fire crews took some time to find them.

"We knocked on a lot of doors and got a lot of people out," she said.

"So many people were still asleep through the noise of the fire … I thought it was the wind, but it was the fire just raging."

"They [fire crews] couldn't find us — that was an issue because the resort drive is not on their record — so they parked up the road further and [a neighbour] had to direct them in the right direction."

Expected horror fire season ahead

While it is not known what sparked the Noosa Springs fire, it occurred as Queensland authorities rushed to complete hazard reduction burns ahead of an expected horror fire season.

A planned burn at Bribie Island jumped containment lines earlier this week, forcing the evacuation of campers, and crews from QFES and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) are still working to contain it.